Need to win remaining games: Dinda

PWI pacer says team must treat upcoming matches as knockout games

Pune Warriors India looked a much more organised bowling unit when they took on the Delhi Daredevils in Raipur. Having been taken to the cleaners by Chris Gayle a few days ago, the PWI bowlers managed to containVirender Sehwagand Co. to a great extent on Sunday.

Ashoke Dinda, their leading wicket-taker so far in IPL 2013, led the attack from the front and ensured his side had a reasonable total to chase. However, the Warriors returned empty-handed yet again.

“We played good cricket, but at the last moment luck was not on our side,” said Dinda. “We got a good start thanks to my bowling. But in the death overs, David Warner took the attack to our bowlers. Still, we managed to hold them back to 164, which was a good effort.”

The pacer also singled out skipper Aaron Finch’s dismissal as the key moment during the chase , and pointed that as a reason for the game slipping out of their grasp.

“Sunday’s turning point was Aaron Finch’s dismissal. Under that situation, the umpire adjudged him out (caught behind) when he was going well. But cricket is a funny game, especially T20, where even a single over can change the game. So, we’ve learnt that until it’s over, don’t raise your hopes,” said a spirited Dinda while taking the DD loss in his stride.

However, this defeat has only reinforced the belief in Dinda that his side has got its back to the wall and needs to step up to the challenge now. Given this situation, he acknowledged that PWI are facing a must-win situation.

“Now seven matches are remaining and we will have to win them all. Let’s see. Nothing is impossible and we will try our best,” Dinda said as he described the road ahead for his team.

He also mentioned that as a unit, the Warriors need to focus on one game at a time. “We don’t have to think that it’s a 16-game tournament. Starting now, we have to take it as a seven-match tournament, where each and every match is a knockout match. And if we lose even one game, we are out of the reckoning. Basically, play each and every match like it is the final.”

Dinda and PWI will next face table-toppers CSK in Pune. Having beaten the MS Dhoni-led outfit in their own backyard, Dinda is hoping for a similar result come Tuesday. However, he also said that their previous triumph over the Men in Yellow doesn’t really give them a leg up in the contest and that PWI will have to bring their ‘A’ game against them.

Dinda himself wants to focus on the key wicket of Dhoni, who can be a thorn in PWI’s side when the two teams collide.

“I will be focusing on Dhoni Bhai. He is batting really well these days. I need to work out where to bowl to him. I have to plan out differently for him, since he knows how I had bowled at him in the last match when I got him out and sealed a win for us,” Dinda said.

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